


Beloved

by bearbaitbrook



Series: Bughead AU's [1]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Betty Cooper Loves Jughead Jones, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Jughead isn't dead, Season 4 AU, seriously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 05:01:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26810041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bearbaitbrook/pseuds/bearbaitbrook
Summary: Veronica went with her to clean out his dorm room at Stonewall after the funeral. She and Archie had volunteered to do it for Betty, but she felt she needed to do this - she needed to be the one to pick up the pieces of his life there and put them into boxes, needed to spend every single possible second with him anyway that she could.And then… "Hey, B?" Veronica handed Betty a small, velvet box, and her hands shook as she opened it. They had talked, of course, about what they would do together after they left Riverdale, headed for New Haven, to a happier place, to a new chance at a happy life. They were always together in every scenario that they had come up with - forever was a given for them - but Betty was still shocked as she opened the box to reveal a silver ring with a small diamond, the word "Beloved" etched into the inside. It was perfect. She stared at it, unmoving, and Veronica gently removed a delicate silver chain from around her neck, slipping the ring onto it and fastening it around Betty's neck. Betty's hand grasped the ring around her neck, one last gift from her Beloved, holding tight to this last thing, the last promise, that he would ever give her.
Relationships: Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Series: Bughead AU's [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1973236
Kudos: 38
Collections: 8th Bughead Fanfiction Awards - Nominees





	Beloved

**Author's Note:**

> I promise, JUGHEAD IS NOT DEAD. But I rewatched the second half of season four last night and it got me feeling pretty angsty, and this was the result. I made myself cry while writing this, and the Mr. came home from a camping trip very confused about why his wife was crying.  
> Enjoy!

He was gone. He was gone, and Betty couldn't breath. She felt herself being folded into someone's arms, Veronica's most likely, and she collapsed, sobs wracking her body. The phone she had been holding dropped to the floor, the screen cracking, and she didn't care, she didn't care, she didn't care, because that phone had just told her that Jughead Jones, the love of her life, was dead, and it was most likely her fault.

She didn't remember doing it - she remembers standing close to Jughead in his Stonewall dorm room, promising that she would trust him and whatever plan he had concocted to find out what Brett and Donna and Joan were up to, and she remembers going to the party in the woods with Archie and V, knowing that Jughead would meet her later, after he had done whatever he needed to do. And then the next thing she remembered was standing over Jughead, a bloody rock in her hands and a gash on Jughead's head as he faded in and out of consciousness.

"Betty, what did you do?" Archie shouted as she called Charles, the only person that she trusted right now besides the man that had been her partner in life - in everything - that was now lying unconscious on the ground, apparently at her own doing.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she cried, almost hysterical, as she pulled Jughead's head into her lap, desperately trying to staunch the flow of blood from his head wound. "Come back to me, Jug, come back to me!"

Charles had to drag her away from Jug as they hauled him into the ambulance bound for an FBI safehouse, and she hadn't seen him again, only heard periodic updates from Charles, always the same: "It's not looking good, Betty."

And then, two days after it happened, he called and said the words that Betty had been dreaming about for the past two nights, the dreams that would wake her up with her own screams of grief: "He didn't make it, Betty. I'm so sorry."

She was numb. 

By the time of the funeral, Hermosa had dug up enough dirt on Brett and Donna to prove that Betty had nothing to do with her boyfriend's death - Donna had apparently purchased a powder called Devil's Breath and had used it on Betty, trying to frame her for Jughead's death - but Betty's guilt was still unbearable. She should have been there with him, should have insisted that she go with him to do whatever it was he had to do before the party, should have insisted that Charles take her with Jughead to protective custody, should have insisted that she was there when he…

"It's not your fault, Betty," everyone told her over and over again. Technically it wasn't, but it still felt like it was.

The funeral was a beautiful tribute to a wonderful man who should have had the time to make something truly amazing out of his life, but Betty hardly recognized anything around her. "He would hate this," she thought numbly as she stared at all of the pomp and circumstance around her. "He would hate this attention." She was only eighteen, yet she played the part of a grieving widow. He would hate that too. 

Veronica went with her to clean out his dorm room at Stonewall after the funeral. She and Archie had volunteered to do it for Betty, but she felt she needed to do this - she needed to be the one to pick up the pieces of his life there and put them into boxes, needed to spend every single possible second with him anyway that she could. Tears had streamed down her face as she pulled photos of her and of them off of his wall, memories of happier times flooding her brain, and she had to sit down, unable to bear the flood of emotions that ripped through her, feeling sick from simply being in his empty dorm room, from knowing that he was dead and the other person who lived in this room with him was partially responsible. But then, she was the one who had encouraged him to come here - so maybe it was her fault too.

And then… "Hey, B?" Veronica handed Betty a small, velvet box, and her hands shook as she opened it. They had talked, of course, about what they would do together after they left Riverdale, headed for New Haven, to a happier place, to a new chance at a happy life. They were always together in every scenario that they had come up with - forever was a given for them - but Betty was still shocked as she opened the box to reveal a silver ring with a small diamond, the word "Beloved" etched into the inside. It was perfect. She stared at it, unmoving, and Veronica gently removed a delicate silver chain from around her neck, slipping the ring onto it and fastening it around Betty's neck. Betty's hand grasped the ring around her neck, one last gift from her Beloved, holding tight to this last thing, the last promise, that he would ever give her.

She wasn't sleeping - even a month later, she still woke up sobbing his name, clutching the beanie that Charles had brought to her one day about a week after  _ it _ , burying her face in one of his shirts, trying to find even a hint of the scent that was rapidly slipping away from her. She was used to being alone in their bed thanks to his time away at Stonewall, but it felt cold and empty without him next to her. Sometimes at night, she swore she could feel him behind her, holding her close, and she would close her eyes tightly for a moment, pretending that it wasn't all just a dream, that he really was there with her, loving her, before opening them again to face the reality that his side of the bed was empty. She moved in with Veronica a short time later as the ghosts of their past grew too heavy.

Veronica and Archie forced her through the motions - go to school, go to Pop's - and some days were better than others. Some days, she felt almost happy, the way that she knew he would want her to be, but other days she would catch a glimpse of a favorite book or a movie that they had watched together in happier times, and it was all she could do to keep moving.

Brett and Donna's murder trial started two months after the funeral. Brett's father had used every bit of his diplomatic pull to delay the trial as much as possible, and Betty was in hell, knowing that the people that did this to Jug, the people that took him away from her, were still walking free. But then he ran out of ways to delay it anymore, and then Betty was being called to the witness stand, voice strong, if a little wobbly, as she clearly stated the events of Jughead's time at Stonewall, and the Quill and Skull society, and everything that happened that night in the woods. 

She itched to slap the smirks off of Brett and Donna's faces as a tear slipped down her face.

Brett made the mistake of taunting her as she walked away from the witness stand. "I have a video of him, if you want it Ponytail. As a final memory. You're in it too." And then she did slap him, the crowd gasping as Veronica pulled her away.

"Why, V," she sobbed as the jury was excused to begin deliberations. "Why did they do this to him?" All Veronica could do was shake her head and hold her friend, rocking her gently, trying to do her best to be a substitute for the person that Betty really needed.

The jury pronounced both Brett and Donna guilty, and they were sentenced as adults to twenty years. They were led away in handcuffs and Betty was overwhelmed with the emotions that flooded her body, her hand coming up to grasp the ring she wore around her neck as had been her habit since she put it on. "He would be so proud of you, B," Veronica said softly, squeezing Betty's hand. 

"I know," she answered.

"Betty, I have something to show you, can I come by in like twenty minutes?" Charles asked on the phone the next day, his voice sounding strangely… excited.

"I really don't know if I can handle that right now, Charles. Can it wait a few days?"

"Trust me, I think you're going to want to see this."

As promised, twenty minutes later the doorbell of the Pembrook rang, something Betty thought was odd since Charles had a key that he was always welcome to use, but she went to open the door, figuring that he must have forgotten it.

She opened the door, and… "No…" she breathed, unable to believe what she saw in front of her. "You're not real, you're dead, you're…" She choked on her words and her legs gave out from under her as she stared into Jughead's piercing blue eyes, the eyes that had haunted her dreams every night for the past two months.

He came in and shut the door, sinking down next to her. "Betts," he breathed, reaching a hand out to cup her cheek.

"I'm dreaming," she whispered, sobbing at how much hurt she had in her heart right now. Her dreams were never this cruel - she could never feel the warmth in his hands as he touched her, or smell the scent that she had come to associate with Jughead over their time together - but in this one she could.

"You're not dreaming. This is real."

She shook her head, tears racing down her cheeks. "You're dead... You left me here, alone, and you're not real... I'm dreaming... and I need to wake up... because this isn't real... I'm just imagining you because I miss you and I don't want to do this without you… and I don't know  _ what  _ to do without you." She was sobbing and hyperventilating, and she couldn't believe her mind would betray her like this. He grabbed her hands and pulled them to his face, his lips, his hair. He was warm and breathing and  _ alive _ . 

"Jug…"

And then she was in his arms and he was holding her so tightly that she almost couldn't breath and she felt whole for the first time in months.

"God I've missed you," he whispered, joining her in her tears as he peppered kisses across her face. "I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry I did this to you. I love you. I'm so sorry. I would never leave you. It takes more than a rock to drag me away from you."

And then he kissed her, achingly soft and loving, scooping her into his arms and carrying her to her room as she pulled at his shirt. She still wasn't sure if she was dreaming or not, but if she was, she wanted to soak him in for as long as she could. 

She cried into his chest afterwards, after he had pushed intimately into her, in the way that only he got to do, as he whispered apologies and "I love you's" tenderly into her ears. It was only after she heard his heartbeat, strong and constant under her ear, that she decided that this was real, that  _ he _ was real and that she wasn't dreaming that he was holding her close.

"I love you so fucking much," he whispered to her. She draped her body over his in response, unwilling to let even a single inch of space between them. She was exhausted - physically, mentally, emotionally - and she fell asleep as his hand rubbed soothing patterns on her back and over the chain that held the ring he had been planning to give her in New Haven, the ring that would remind her everyday just how much he loved her. His heart beat out a lullaby: "He's here. He's alive. This is real."

She slept through the night for the first time in months. 

A startled gasp woke them both, as a confused Veronica stood in the doorway. They shrugged on clothes, Betty pulling on a t-shirt that now smelled like him once again, and joined her and Archie, and Jughead explained everything.

How Brett and Donna had planned this all along as part of a requirement to win that ridiculous book deal, how after he had woken up in protective custody, Charles had insisted that they tell the word he was dead, to keep both him and Betty safe from a second murder attempt, how he had worked with the FBI to compile the evidence that eventually put Brett and Donna away, how every second of every day he was working to come back home to her.

There were many tears that afternoon, and Betty refused to leave Jughead's lap, afraid that if she let him out of her sight for more than a moment, he would disappear again. 

But he didn't, and life slowly returned to normal - or as normal as their lives could be in Riverdale. They moved back to Elm street, their bed no longer haunted by the ghosts of what could have been. He returned to Riverdale High, somehow finishing senior year with honors despite his two month hiatus. She slapped her brother the first time she saw him, threatening to destroy him if he ever put them through anything like that again, before throwing her arms around him, thanking him for bringing Jug back to her. FP and Alice helped them load up Betty's hand-me down station wagon with boxes, bound for their new New Haven apartment, promising JB that she could help them tackle all of the pizza in Connecticut when she came to visit. 

And when they drove off into the sunset, towards their new life together, a life away from Riverdale, away from murderous fathers and roommates, the ring that he had bought her was no longer on the chain around her neck. It was on her finger. Right where it belonged. 


End file.
